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Team USA to Appear on NBC's 'Today Show'

from staff reports

The Manchester-bound U.S. men's national team will appear on NBC's "Today Show" on Thursday morning, US Lacrosse announced Monday.

Team USA players Kevin Cassese, Max Seibald and Matt Striebel are expected to appear, along with head coach Mike Pressler.

"Today Show" anchors Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry and Al Roker will interview the team members outside on the plaza. The program originates from Rockefeller Plaza in New York City daily from 7-9 a.m. The exact time for Team USA's appearance is not available yet.

The team's July 8 exhibition game against the MLL All-Stars, to be played at Harvard University in Boston, will be its last tune-up before traveling to England to compete in the 2010 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships. The championship event will be played in Manchester, England from July 15-24. In 2006, Team USA took the silver medal at the quadrennial event, falling to Canada 15-10 in the final game matchup in London, Ontario.

This will be the second major lacrosse-oriented feature on the "Today Show" in less than a year. Several members of the Long Island Lizards, headlined by former Team USA player Nicky Polanco, appeared Aug. 4, 2009, to promote the sport and Major League Lacrosse.

In that segment, Lauer and Roker shot on current Team USA goalie Brian Dougherty, and Vieira and Curry shot on rookie Drew Adams. It was said that Vieira and Curry won. “You know, the losers in the old days were killed,” Roker said during one of the teases earlier in the show.

Cassese and Striebel are both three-time members of the U.S. national team. Seibald, the 2009 Tewaaraton Trophy winner, is part of a current Team USA midfield that includes the last three Tewaaraton winners, the others being Ned Crotty (2010) and Mike Leveille (2008).